Psalm 91:9 "Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the MOST HIGH, thy habitation;"
Psalm 91:10 "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."
Psalm 91:11 "For He [The LORD] shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."
Psalm 91:12 "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."
Psalm 91:13 "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."
lion = H7826. shachal (shakh'-al) - From an unused root probably meaning to roar; a lion (from his characteristic roar): - (fierce) lion.
adder = H6620. pethen (peh'-then) - From an unused root meaning to twist; an asp (from its contortions): - adder.
dragon = H8577. tannı̂yn (tan-neen'), tannı̂ym (tan-neem') - (The second form used in Eze_29:3); intensive from the same as H8565; a marine or land monster, that is, sea serpent or jackal: - dragon, sea-monster, serpent, whale.
Satan is a word smith and he likes to contort and twist words like a serpent, or snake. He will give you 95 percent truth and twist it at the very end, just like he did with Psalm 91 in the temptation in the wilderness. He does it concerning the real sin in the Garden of Eden. The devil's law is the law of reversal and turning people to hypocrisy in the process. The game never changes.
Treading upon the lion and adder means treading on the the devil's agents and satan himself in the name of Jesus CHRIST. We see that the "lion" and "adder", or "dragon", are to be understood figuratively. You aren't going into the wilderness in search of actual lions and dragons to trample under your shoes. In Luke 10:19, Jesus said, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you".
Luke 10:19 is better translated (from the Greek text), "Behold, I have given you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in anywise hurt you." That's a promise from Jesus Himself. The serpent is satan and the serpents, plural, are the very offspring of the devil, the children of Cain, from the real sin in the Garden of Eden. The scorpions are the fallen watchers, or angels, that will be kicked out of Heaven (Rev 12:9), onto the Earth, pretending to be the good guys, with satan pretending to be Christ.
Psalm 44:5 "Through Thee will we push down our enemies: through Thy Name will we tread them under that rise up against us."Luke 9:1 "Then He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases."
As a Christian, you have the authority in Jesus' name over all, and that means all, evil spirits. It's not us but GOD that delivers, casts out demons and heals the sick. Our main enemy, or adversary, is satan. Through the Name of Jesus CHRIST, our Heavenly FATHER will give us the victory against all of our enemies.
As a student of GOD's Word, we must be able to know when the words, in the WORD, are to be taken literally and when they are to be taken figuratively. If you're indoctrinated to the point where you cannot apply critical thinking and critical reading towards the WORD, you need to put down what you think you know. Humbling yourself is a bitter pill to swallow because you have to make yourself a fool, in order to become wise. Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of GOD as a little child, he shall not enter therein" (Mark 10:15). For a child's mind is open, an indoctrinated mind is closed. Pray to our FATHER in Heaven for Truth and for eyes to see and ears to hear.
Now let's go back to the archetype of words smiths, and scripture lawyers, the serpent. Satan's fluff and lies work like leaven, and a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Leaven modifies, lightens and fluffs TRUTH. Indoctrination will turn your mind upside down, filling it with half-truths and contrary beliefs. The evil one knows Scripture better than most Christians. It's unfortunate but true. However, the devil quotes the Scriptures with a twist.
Matthew 4:5 "Then the devil [satan] taketh Him [JESUS] up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple,"Matthew 4:6 "And saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of GOD, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone."
The evil one has no shame, because he is deliberately misquoting Scripture to Jesus CHRIST. Jesus is the Living WORD. But what does that tell you? Satan is doing the same thing many so-called teachers do this day, misquoting and taking things out of context, fabricating traditions and false doctrines. Did you catch the adding of "cast thyself down" and lest "at any time"? The devil also left out "in all thy ways". A "way" is a path or course of life, your walk with Christ. GOD will protect you on this journey. If you test GOD, you are off that path, and His angels will not provide the protection.
The importance of learning and knowing the WORD is vital... it seals your mind with Truth. If you can see or hear, if you can read and write, the more abilities and skills that GOD has given you, the more you use them towards learning and sharing His WORD. So why does satan stop at Psalm 91, verse 12?
Psalm 91:13 "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."
adder = H6620. pethen (peh'-then); From an unused root meaning to twist; an asp (from its contortions): - adder.
Because Psalm 91, verse 13 refers to satan's own head being crushed (Gen 3:15). The adder is a venomous snake and it moves by contorting or twisting. It injects venom, or poison, to immobilize and digest its prey via toxins. That sounds exactly like satan in a figurative way. The enemy immobilizes and dissolves the minds of the sheep with indoctrination and false doctrines. Double-mindedness will render the prey immobile and ready to be used as puppets. The serpent and the dragon are names of satan. He is the very same serpent in the Garden of Eden.
Matthew 23:33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
generation = G1081. γέννημα: gennēma (ghen'-nay-mah). From G1080; offspring; by analogy produce (literally or figuratively): - fruit, generation.
G1080. γεννάω: gennaō (ghen-nah'-o). From a variation of G1085; to procreate (properly of the father, but by extension of the mother); figuratively to regenerate: - bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring.
vipers = G2191. ἔχιδνα: echidna (ekh'-id-nah). Of uncertain origin; an adder or other poisonous snake (literally or figuratively): - viper.
Jesus Himself said, "You serpents, you offspring of vipers". Now do we understand this to mean a generation of poisonous snakes, or an offspring of satan's children? Generation, in this verse, is "gennema" in Greek, meaning offspring. Gennema comes from the word "gennao", meaning to procreate or conceive. In contrast, the word "generation" in Matthew 12:39 is "genea", which is an age or generation.
Matthew 12:39 "But He [Jesus] answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:"
generation = G1074. γενεά: genea (ghen-eh-ah'). From (a presumed derivative of) G1085; a generation; by implication an age (the period or the persons): - age, generation, nation, time.
Critical thinking is rational thinking. The Word of GOD never states that one must give up rational thinking, and pick up spiritual stupor, in order to have faith. The Word tells us to "study to shew thyself approved unto GOD, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth " (2 Tim 2:15). The word "study" here means to do diligence and make an earnest effort, as a workman or teacher, not just taking some man's word concerning the Scriptures, without first checking things out for yourself.
Are you really proud of your intelligence or fancy degree? Well, have you ever studied the Word of GOD and put in even half the effort as you did towards institutional exams and tests? You have no excuse if you know how to study. Don't put the intelligence of men and their systems of education over GOD's Word. One uses critical thinking to improve the process of thinking. The precepts of men indoctrinate people to accept beliefs uncritically and throw out critical thinking and common sense. Jesus often pointed out the hypocrisy of men, especially the religious leaders. Sitting in the pew, being spoon fed watered down doctrines, is easy. You might be giving too much credit to your teacher's title and the nice church building, thus, putting your spiritual health in the hands of men and their traditions.
Luke 7:31 "And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?"
Luke 7:32 "They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept."Luke 7:33 "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil."Luke 7:34 "The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!"Luke 7:35 "But wisdom is justified of all her children."
The world, as well as many religious Christians, are double-minded, hypocritical, confused (in Babel), and backwards. Remember, double mindedness refers to "two", one set of ideas, values and beliefs being right and another set of them being wrong. Satan employs this tactic to influence hypocrisy and ultimately the great apostasy in the end times. It's very simple to see, when you have wisdom and understanding in GOD'S Letter to you.
With some common sense and basic knowledge in science, you know darn well that all of the races didn't come from one man. You know that the Earth is millions and millions of years old. So if you understand the facts, yet also accept the religious precepts of men, stating that the Earth is several thousand years old, and all races came from Adam, you're indoctrinated to the point that you have no critical thinking skills and have allowed the leaven of hypocrisy, and double-mindedness, to propagate through your mind.
Keep "two" in your mind looking at it as positive and negative. There's good and evil, there's the True CHRIST and the false christ, there's truth and lies. For every positive force, satan will use a counter, an evil, negative force - a negative doctrine for every positive one. When one accepts two conflicting beliefs, he becomes "two" minded or two-spirited. It directly lessens critical thinking, which is inward directed to improve the process of thinking as well as maximize rationality. When one simultaneously believes a truth and it's counter force, a lie, his mind becomes unstable. The lies include fables that keep you enslaved and in darkness, but the Truth will make you free and bring you into the Light.
The Lion King - pt 6 (thorn tree)
The Lion King - pt 7 (Garden of Eden)
The Lion King - pt 8 (sweeter than honey)
The Lion King - pt 9 (false lion of Judah)
To be continued...
Peace in CHRIST JESUS,
Spread-the-Truth
Mr baptist.
